An Issue of Connection with this Family's Ancestry

The genealogy for this David and Keziah Howell family is sometimes wrong with regards to ancestry.

Several years ago a Long Island genealogical website was soliciting input for a new genealogy surname database they were building. I submitted a gedcom file with all the information we had gathered so far on our ancestor David and Keziah (Pierson) Howell, in the hope that someone might see this information and further our understanding of this Howell family, it's descendants and ancestors.

Fairly soon thereafter, within the year, I noticed our David, Keziah and the entire family had been assigned to and included as descendants of the Timothy and Deborah (Green) Howell family of the Ewing (near Trenton) area of New Jersey, a considerable distance from Morris County, New Jersey; where our Howell family lived. This connection is completely incorrect and should NOT be made.

Good and bad information on the internet travels far and fast. Over time this "bad" data turned up in other databases and was even returned to us in the form of "help" from some well meaning but ill-informed "cousins." Eventually, after several years, we were able to have this corrected, at least on the original offending site. But who knows where else this is gone and how often it is accepted as fact.

The evidence AGAINST the David and Keziah Howell family being any part of the Timothy and Deborah Howell family is plentiful and persuasive. A review of the facts of what is known about both of these families would convince anyone this is completely wrong. First and foremost is the fact that this (Timothy & Deborah) family already has another (well documented - detailed PDF here) David as part of their family.[1] This other David was born about the same time (1774), was married to a different woman (Lettia Howell, daughter of Asher and Phebe Howell), is specifically named in his father's will and shared in the estate,[2] had four children, died in 1837 and is buried in The First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Ewing, Mercer County, New Jersey, the same place his father Timothy Howell is buried.[3] It is VERY unlikely there would have been two Davids in the same family at the same time. Second, the Ewing area (near Trenton) of New Jersey was a fair distance from Morris County, New Jersey and there is no evidence or suggestion of our David having anything to do with that part of the state. No other siblings nor ancestors nor descendants of the Timothy Howell family have any known connection with Morris county, or for that matter the other way around. None of the Timothy Howell family is found in the migration patterns of our David Howell family, i.e., New York, Michigan, etc. Furthermore, no one, apart from the name David, have names from the Timothy Howell family in the immediate or subsequent generations of our David Howell family. Lastly, and perhaps most convincing is that YDNA testing on a descendant of our David Howell shows we are not direct descendants of the Edward Howell family of Southampton, New York, the ancestor of which David Howell of Ewing New Jersey has long been closely associated.[4]

Other then possibly the convenience of time and name, there does NOT seem to be ANY evidence that the David and Keziah Howell family are any part of the Timothy and Deborah Howell family. The connection of David, Keziah and their family with the Timothy Howell family is simply not credible and should be ignored.

If anyone reading this happens upon this incorrect information, please ask that it be corrected. Or, contact us - so that we can do so.

John Jameson [S1]

Genealogy of Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing ' Old Hunterdon County', New Jersey - Cooley, Rev. Dr. Eli F., and Cooley, William S. Prof., Heritage Books, Inc. Copyright 1993 Facsimile Reprint), p. 132, Timothy